Pair of graded stakes winners square off in Limestone Stakes

LEXINGTON, Ky. – American Apple and Danse Macabre are among the contenders in a full field of 12 for Friday’s $250,000 Limestone Stakes for 3-year-old fillies sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on the Keeneland turf. They are the only two U.S. graded stakes winners in the lineup.

American Apple is one of three fillies in this field who made their most recent start in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint last November at Keeneland. The American Pharoah filly won the Grade 3 Matron Stakes going six furlongs on the Aqueduct turf in the penultimate start of her juvenile campaign. That earned her a spot at the Breeders’ Cup, where she stalked the pace, briefly forged to the lead near the three-sixteenths pole, and then gave way to finish sixth.

“She came out of the Breeders’ Cup in wonderful shape,” trainer Daniel Leitch said. “I gave her two months off, and she came back better than I could have hoped for. [Owner] Larry Doyle said she left a little girl and came back a woman.”

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American Apple is drawn in post 8 under regular rider Gerardo Corrales, and her stalking style should work well from that spot in a race with a good amount of speed drawn inside her. A rapid early pace could develop down inside with Sassy Nature drawing the rail under Julien Leparoux, and Accomplished Girl leaving from post 4 with Edgard Zayas in the irons.

Sassy Nature is a front-running winner of both her turf starts, including the Melody of Colors at Gulfstream Park. Accomplished Girl was a last-out maiden winner on the Gulfstream turf with a 92 Beyer Speed Figure, best in this field.

Danse Macabre, under Adam Beschizza, also prefers to stalk and risks being wide around the turn. Never off the board in her six starts, Danse Macabre won the Untapable going 6 1/2 furlongs at Kentucky Downs, and then was third in the Matron. She stretched out to a mile to win the Grade 3 Herecomesthebride at Gulfstream on March 4 in her last start and first in nearly five months.

“She’s a fast filly,” trainer Kelsey Danner said. “The distance was the question. She’s got a lot of heart. She’s just a classy filly. She does her job every day.”

Love Reigns and Lady Hollywood, both of whom will be saddled by Wesley Ward, also emerge from the Breeders’ Cup. Love Reigns, the 7-2 choice on the morning line over the 4-1 Danse Macabre, is the only member of this field to win on the Keeneland turf, doing so in her debut. She then was fourth in the Group 2 Queen Mary at Royal Ascot and won the Bolton Landing at Saratoga, but finished eighth as the favorite in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. Love Reigns has drawn post 3 under Joel Rosario.

Lady Hollywood, a Group 3 winner in France, was fifth in the Juvenile Turf Sprint. She was subsequently transferred to Ward to remain in the U.S.

Just a Care was a closing second in the Melody of Colors, and would benefit from a contentious pace. Completing the field are Santa Anita stakes winner Stone Silent, stakes-placed Alluring Angel and Twirled, and maiden winners Capt Akeela and My Sweet Affair.

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